Good Wife, Wise Mother
Traditional ideal for womanhood in East Asia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Good Wife, Wise Mother" is a phrase representing a traditional ideal for womanhood in East Asia, including Japan, China and Korea. First appearing in the late 1800s, the four-character phrase "Good Wife, Wise Mother" (also Wise Wife, Good Mother (Japanese: 良妻賢母, Hepburn: ryōsai kenbo, Chinese: 賢妻良母/賢母良妻; pinyin: xián qī liáng mǔ/xián mǔ liáng qī)) was coined by Nakamura Masanao in 1875.[1]
During the late 1800s, women in East Asian society were expected to master domestic skills such as sewing and cooking, and to develop the moral and intellectual skills to raise strong, intelligent sons for the sake of the nation. Childbearing was considered a "patriotic duty", and although this philosophy declined in Japan after World War II, feminist historians have argued it existed there as recently as the 1980s.[2]
This traditional view of women was similarly shared in Chinese society throughout the early 1900s, and on numerous occasions was criticized by Chinese academics such as Lu Xun and Zhu Ziqing.[citation needed] The phrase, and its related effects and ideals, influenced and continue to influence traditional views of women in East Asian societies to the modern day.[citation needed]